Sewing-machine shuttle



L. B. MILLER 86 P. DIEHL. Sewing Machine Shuttle.

No. 233,789. Patented Oct. 26,1880;

N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPNER, WASHINGTON, D C,

UNITE STATES ATENT Trice.

LEBBEUS B. MILLER AND PHILIP DIEHL, OE ELIZABETH, N. J., ASSIGNORS TO THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY.

SEWING-MACHINE SHUTTLE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 233,789, dated October 26,1880.

Application filed February 26, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, LEBBEUS BALDWIN MILLER and PHILIP DIEHL, both ofEliza-beth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have made an invention of certain new and useful Improvements in Shuttles for Sewing-Machines; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description and specification of the same.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a thread-case and tension device for the under thread of a sewing-machine which shall be simple, durable, and convenient in its arrangements for receiving, holding, and

securing the thread, and which shall also be so constructed that the operator can easily obtain a uniform and elastic tension on the said under thread and conveniently vary the same as required; and the invention relates espe- 2o cially to the construction of such a threadcase and to the mechanism for obtaining and varying such tension.

In order to show more clearly the operation and effect of our device, we have represented in the accompanying drawings, and will proceed to describe, the said device as applied to a shuttle having a beak and beak-shank to take and hold the loop of the needle-thread in a sewing-machine carrying a bobbin, and be in g similar in its general form and operation to that shown and fully described in Letters Patent of the United States N 0. 208,838, granted to us October 8,1878, and also No. 221,338, November 4, 1879; but it is obvious that the 5 said improvements may be conveniently and advantageously used in sewing-machines having different devices for taking the loop of the needle-thread, and that our thread-case is equally well adapted to contain thread wound in the form of a cop, ball, or other suitable shape.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a face view of a shuttle provided with our improvements, in which the thread-case forms the body 5 of the shuttle and is shown with the thread in it, and the manner in which such thread is passed through the tension device to the place of delivery is also shown. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same shuttle, showing especially 50 the device for locking the thread-case, and by the same mechanism obtaining and regulating the pressure or tension on the thread. Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section, (through the line I) b, Fig. 1,) showingthe manner'ofhingingtogether the under and upper parts of the thread-case. 5 5 Fig. 4 is a view in cross-section, (through the line 6 c, Fig. 1,) showing especially the locking and tension device before referred to. Fig. 5 is an inner-face view of the shuttle with the upper part or cover of the thread-case removed; and Fig. 6 shows the inner face of the upper part or cover of said thread-case, and also the manner in which the thread rests on it and passes out through the tension device to the place of delivery. As will be seen, the thread-case consists of under and upper portions, A and B, hinged together as shown at a, each of which is hollowed out in the center, so that when brought together they will form a box-like receptacle, D, for the thread. The edges or rims, where the two portions A and B bear against each other when brought together, are left wide enough to give a sufficient surface for the tension on that portion of the thread a which is passed between them, as hereinafter described. One portion, A, of said thread-case is provided with a spring, E, one end of which is rigidly attached to it, and the other portion,B,is provided with the screw 0. having an enlarged end or projection, 01, which projects beyond the inner surface of said portion B, and is so arranged that when the under and upper portions, A andB, of said thread-case are brought together the point of this projection 01 will encounter the free end of the said spring E. As this projection (Z first increases in circumference from the point toward the head of said screw 0, and then (before it reaches the surface of B) decreases, being in form somewhat 0 similar to two cones placed base to base, its action, when the two portions A and B of the thread-case are pressed together, will be first to force the spring E outward toward its largest circumference, and then, after its largest circumference has passed the spring E, to receive the point of said spring E on the inclined surface of its inner bevel or cone, and thus, by the pressure of said spring on said inner bevel, draw and lock together the two portions A and B of the thread-case. When the thread is placed in one portion of said receptacle D, (the case being held in the position shown by Fig. 1,) its free end is allowed to hang down to the left of the locking device, as indicated by the dotted line at (R. Fig. 1. The under and upper portions,AandB,of the thread-case are then pressed together, the free end of the thread (t is drawn to the right around the screw 0, near its center, and between the under and upper surfaces of the rims of the portions A and B of said thread-case, in the direction shown by the dotted lines, to the place of deliveryat a. The spring E being rigidly attached to one portion, A, of said thread-case, the pressure of its free end on the upper inward bevel of the end or projection 61 of the screw 0 (the other end of said screw being attached to the portion B) will cause the inner rim-surfaces of the two portions A and B to be drawn together and to compress the thread between them. The elasticity of the spring E will make this an elastic pressure sufiiciently yielding to permit the passage of any inequalities or lumps in the thread. The screw 0 works in a hole tapped to receive it in the upper portion, B, of said thread-ease, and it is evident that by turning said screw 0 so that the end at will be drawn toward the said portion B the pressure of its inner bevel on the spring E, and consequently the pressure on the thread passing between the inner rim-surfaces of the portions A and B of the thread-case, will be increased,while by turning said screw 0 in the opposite direction such pressure will be decreased. To obtain these results it is not necessary to hollow both portions of said threadcase, as the cavity may be formed wholly or partly in either; but we prefer it as shown. We also, by preference, and in order to increase the thread-contaiuing capacity of said thread-case, cut away the centers of the portions hollowed out to contain the thread, leaving merely a small projection or flange, g, to secure the outer edge of the bobbin, cop, 01' ball placed in the receptacle.

lVe claim as our invention- 1. Ash uttlefor sewing-machines, the thread case of which is formed of two portions hinged together, one of which is provided with the projection d and the other with the spring E, the said projection being adapted to act in connection with said spring, substantially as described.

2. A shuttle for sewing-machines, the threadcase of which is formed of two portions hinged together, one of which is provided with the adjustable projection d and the other with the spring E, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

LEBBEUS BALDWIN MILLER. PHILIP DIEHL.

WVitnesses:

JOSEPH DONOVAN, JAMES C. VAN DYKE. 

